..: Chicken Paprikash over Egg Dumplings

For the longest time (aka most of my life), I never got to experience the Hungarian cuisine of my dad's childhood! His father, a Hungarian to the core, loved the traditional dishes of the motherland, but unfortunately, with his untimely death in the early '80s, we lost most of the recipes. He notoriously did not write down recipes or share all of the ingredients or directions, so none of us never really knew how to make any of the traditional Hungarian dishes! For example, he used to make a Hungarian cookie called Kiffles. He gave my mom the recipe for the cookies, but did not tell her until he was on his death bed, that hers always fell apart because he didn't tell her to egg wash them before baking! My grandmother stopped making most of the Hungarian dishes after he passed away, much to my dismay! After about 22 years of searching and asking around, my aunt was able to provide me with a fairly authentic chicken paprikash recipe! Here is my adaptation of her recipe...

Chicken Paprikash over Egg Dumplings
Yields 3 - 4 servings

To Prepare the Chicken Paprikash
1. Heat 1/2 a stick (4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup) of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

2. Once the butter has heated, add 1 pound of thin cut skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

3. While the chicken is browning in the butter, cut 2 small onions in half moons.

4. Flip the chicken once it has browned on the first side, and add the onions.

5. While the onions brown with the other side of the chicken, cut 2 green bell peppers into 1/4 wide strips.

6. Add the peppers to the pan and stir everything together well!
7. Cook everything over medium heat until the peppers soften a little bit.
8. Add a 14 ounce can of either chicken or vegetable broth to the pan.

9. Add 2 heaping teaspoons of paprika to the pan.

10. While everything is coming to a boil, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 1/4 cup of water, and add it to the boiling pan. This will help thicken the sauce!

11. Stir 1 cup of sour cream into the pan.

12. Once everything is blended well, add salt and pepper to taste. If your sauce is too spicy, add some more sour cream, milk, or cream...it will help soften the flavor!
13. Cover the pan and let everything simmer on low heat while you prepare the dumplings!

To Prepare the Dumplings
*If you don't want to make dumplings, this serves very well over egg noodles or rice!
1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour to a bowl.
3. Add 3 eggs to the bowl.
4. Add 1/2 cup of milk to the bowl.
5. Mix everything together until it becomes a batter.

6. When the water has come to a rapid boil, use a small spoon and drop the batter into the water by the spoonful.
7. The dumplings are done cooking when they float. Remove them from the water by either pouring the water and dumplings through a sieve, or by scooping them out with a slotted spoon or mesh colander!